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Graveland "Lodowy Labirynt"

Wallpapers

Wednesday, 05 February 2014 20:12 | Written by Rob Darken |

Celtic Winter

WARHEART Records

2013

1. Prolog2. The Gates to the Kingdom of Darkness-Intro3. Intro4. The Night of Fullmoon5. Call of the Black Forest6. Hordes of Empire7. The Gates to the Kingdom of Darkness8. The Return of Funeral Winds9. Prolog /alternative version/10.The Gates to the Kingdom of Darkness-Intro /alternative version/ 11. Intro /alternative version/12. Call of the Black Fores /alternative version/13. Hordes of Empire /alternative version/14. The Gates to the Kingdom of Darkness /alternative version/15. The Return of Funeral Winds /alternative version/16. Call of the Black Forest /alternative version/

Re-release of the cult of material Graveland First time use other mix nowhere to be published for 20 years!! with Alternatives Bonus Tracks!!!The Re-release includes a Lots of never previously unreleased photos!, enriched with New Graphic Design with 20 pages booklet!.Comes on CD-slipcase with the insert of the first CD book!

Again we have an opportunity to enjoy new reissues of cult Graveland recordings: ?In the Glare of Burning Churches? and ?Celtic Winter?. This time it was Warheart Records who took up the challange. Did they achive what they were supposed to? Well, yes and no. What's positive about it? Mostly the material included on both reeditions and its quality. On ?In the Glare of Burning Churches? we have the original demo, Epilogue demo (I don't now if it was a good idea to put it here, I think it deserves a separate reissue with an extended artwork, but well, let it be) and a few tracks from the title demo rehersal. It all sounds as it should- it's a pleasure to listen to it (it brings back the memory of good old days when black metal was connected with individualism, originality and dedication). When it comes to ?Celtic Winter? we have a full version of it here of course, not a shortened one released by No Colours in the far past, and an alternative version of this material (previously unreleased). That one brings nostalgia as well.

When it comes to the visual aspect of both releases it's not that good at all. To start with, why the hell an old, cult, raw material is put together with a modern, computer graphic design (that's how it looks like) and made in color?! Just a shoot in the foot, an own goal! The cover and the whole design of the booklet is made that way, I think it's a complately missed idea when you see some old atmospheric photos combined with such background (shame that there is not a lot of them but the ones that are given are great!). The last thing to complain about are the slipcases added to the cd's- they are a bit to wide and the jewelcase slips out of them easily. A bonus that saves the overall impression about poligraphy is and additional insert/booklet made in old black & white style with original graphics, added to each release apart from the standard one. As far as I know thanks must go to Rob himself as he managed to force that addition on the label. Huge thanks Rob, you've saved the day! It's worth mentioning that the standard booklets include all the lyrics and commentaries on both releases given by a few musicians from the scene such as Nergal (Behemoth), Beldaroh (Besatt), Bart Krysiuk (Witchinghour Productions, Hermh) or Varggoth (Nokturnal Mortum), so all in all there is something to read.

Generally speaking these are solid reissues but they should have been made more accurately with a bit more oldschool attitude. It's worth having them bacause of those advantages I've mentioned, they help getting through that epic fail when it comes to the visual side of those releases.